Inhaltsangabe

Part of a small demon lair in Las Vegas, tattooist Harper Wallis lives a pretty simple life. That changes overnight when she discovers that her psychic mate, or 'anchor', is a guy who's rumoured to be the most powerful demon in existence.

Compelling, full of secrets and armed with raw sexuality, Knox Thorne is determined to claim her as his anchor, creating a psychic bond that will prevent their inner demons from ever turning rogue. The billionaire also wants Harper in his bed. She's not so sure she wants either of those things. No one seems to know what breed of demon Knox is, only that he's more dangerous than anything she's ever before encountered. But he refuses to walk away. And when an unknown danger starts closing in on Harper, it seems that Knox is the only one who can keep her safe.

As Prime of his Las Vegas lair and a successful businessman, Knox Thorne is used to being in control. He's also used to people fearing and obeying him. Harper does neither, which unexpectedly amuses him. Unpredictable, elusive and complex, she draws Knox and his inner demon like nothing ever has.

Knox is used to getting what he wants, and he wants Harper. He'll have her, and he'll keep her safe from the threat that looms over her. Because Knox protects what's his. He won't allow anyone to take her from him. Even if it will mean letting the demon inside him rise and wreak the havoc it was created to make.

A lot of the reviews I read for this audio-book were unhappy with the narration but loved the story. After listening to the sample, I thought the narration wasn't too bad and gave it a try. I made it through the first half and I am now giving up. If I'd only have an hour or two left, I might finish it just because I dislike unfinished stories, but six hours? No.

My problem, though, isn't the narration. To be honest, I didn't think it was bad at all - not great, but good. The voices are okay, the male ones deep, although they don't have much of an individual voice, so you can't tell them apart just by hearing the dialogue without the "said Knox/Jolene/whoever" bits. But again, That to me just means it's good narration instead of great narration. The pacing was nice, so was the pronunciation and I like the voice itself. The other reviews disliked that the main character sounded whiny and like a Valley Girl, but I didn't get that impression at all (one of her friends does sometimes sound like a Valley Girl, though). So, if that's the reason someone might hesitate to buy this, listen to the samples (Tip: audible.com ad audible.de have different samples) and decide if that sounds okay to you.

Now, my problem is with the writing, mainly the portrayal of the two main characters. Harper is supposed to be this super independent woman that doesn't take no sh*t from anyone, but whenever Knox pushes her around, all she does is protest slightly and then letting him do whatever he wants to do. That annoyed me, but not as much as Knox does. Now, I realise that the possessive, controlling type is often the love interest in paranormal fantasy/romance, and I'm usually okay with it, even though I do not find that sexy or hot at all, but the author takes it way, WAY too far here. Knox isn't just "rather possessive and a bit controlling" like other love interests (think alpha werewolf, for example), he... well, he checks off every goddamm point on the list of behaviours of abusive personality types. He gets insanely jealous when he notices other men just looking at her with interest (he wants kill them, in fact, and I guess we're supposed to pat him on the back for not doing exactly that - again, they were looking at her from a distance, no even trying to talk to her), he doesn't only flat out tell Harper that because he wants her as his anchor, she has no choice (same thing when taking their relationship to the "next level", he tells her that because he wants her and won't stop or take no for an answer, she doesn't have a choice), he also tells her pretty much exactly: "You're mine and I can f**k you whenever I want". I could go on, but honestly, you could play abusive behaviour bingo with this guy and hit everything (except maybe for gas-lighting and physical violence towards Harper).

Now, I know a lot of readers enjoy this the controlling "You're mine!" type of love interest in books and again, I can usually still enjoy the book even if this isn't my favourite type. But romanticising the kind of extreme behaviour Knox shows I can't ignore. I don't want to be thinking "Girl, RUN! As far and fast as you can!" while listening to a romantic/erotic story/scene. I don't want to be constantly thinking "If this was real, it would end badly for her", either. The only reason why Knox's behaviour isn't a "problem" in the book is because Harper just lets him do whatever and because she doesn't mind the things he's doing (or when she does only protests weakly and it's portrayed as if he knows best anyway). This is a book and not real life, so I guess it will go on like this and they will be "happy", but yeah, I'm done. To make my point more clear, let's compare this to a well known series with an incredibly physically strong, possessive and controlling male lead: Curran from Ilona Andrews' Kate Daniels series. There is a very clear difference between Knox and Curran: Curran respects Kate, as a person and a fighter, and he shows this through his words and actions. When she says no to him, he might roar and argue, but he doesn't just dismiss it as if her no means nothing. And Kate does say no, she doesn't just agree to whatever he wants. She is her own person and stays that way. That's why, even if I personally wouldn't want to date Curran, I can see why they're perfect for each other and I actually got invested (still am) in their romance. Sadly, this wasn't the case here.

If you're like me, better look for another book. If you don't mind Knox's extreme behaviour and are looking for a book heavy on sex (not really romance, though. They're relationship is driven by lust and possessiveness, not tender feelings) and light on plot, then go for it.